Mastering engineer Barry Diament recently expanded his services to include direct to stereo location recording. Searching for a portable and sonically transparent interface for his PowerBook, he heard about, and later purchased, Metric Halo's Mobile I/O 2882+DSP.

Diament was initially looking for an interface between his PowerBook and mastering room reference system for playback, he explains. "I wanted something that was up to the level of my reference system - something that would be as revealing. The first thing that attracted me was the [Mobile I/O’s] features, but the final decision was made after an audition."

Diament has engineered for more than 30 years and mastered CDs for more than two decades. His home-based studio is equipped for post-recording, post-processing and mastering. He says, "My preferred method of recording is on location and direct to stereo, rather than in a studio. I prefer to work where a musical performance would be heard, preferably without an audience, because that's where the music sounds best."